and the cowboy's wife

Saturday 26. November 2016

We’ve been having a great Thanksgiving weekend at the Homestead! Family time at The Lakes with my mom’s side of the family on Thursday, and the big kids were able to make it home from NebraskaLand on Friday morning!

Kirk and one of his roping buddies went out to Nebraska on Friday for a team roping and brought home a little money to take both families out for supper last night! We all met up at our local steak house/lounge, kids and all. Ran into several people we knew and was able to get in a lot of visiting!

Grampa showed up before we left, Kaet and Dallas had a few drinks with him and then Liz showed up and I wound up going home alone! The kids hung out in town and then went home and spent the night with my folks. I’m sure dad was tickled, he and Kaet have a bond unlike with any of the other grandkids and he’s always so happy to get her to himself!

Bubba wasn’t too happy. He was excited to have his sister home and was hoping for as much time with her as he can get with her boyfriend along. We wound up finishing up watching a Christmas movie with me and he and Finn crashed and wound up sleeping on the couch in the basement.

We were able to make some time to go to the city to do some shopping. She has a new job at a bank she starts in a week and was needing some business clothes. Was really shocked the city wasn’t near as busy and crazy as it usually is this weekend of the year, guess on-line shopping has really changed things. Definitely not complaining! It was nice to get in and out fairly quick!

This evening we did go down to The Godfather and Aunt Kathy’s. They missed Kaet and Dallas not being able to make it home last weekend for Thanksgiving, so we wanted to get down so they could see each other. We had grabbed meat, cheese, crackers and cupcakes at the grocery store in the city, so we took supper to them and sat and visited and told stories for a few hours.

The kids are back at Gramma and Grampa’s tonight. Spending a little extra time with them before heading back out west in the morning. Gramma hadn’t gotten to see much of Kaet yet, and like Grampa, they have a special bond. First grandchild!

Although it was only a short trip, it was great having her home! Going to be even tougher now that she graduates college in two weeks and starts her new full time job in one week.

We knew when she went away to college that there would be a chance that she would maybe like it enough to stay when she was done with school, or meet a guy out there that would also keep her from moving back home. Ag college, most of the guys are family farmers who will be going back home once they graduate and there aren’t too many people from this area that go to school out there. We don’t have the large cattle operations here like there is out where she is.

It’s all good though. When we were her age we were married and living not far from where she is living now. Actually, at her age, I was less than a month away from having her…day after Christmas Nebraska Baby. Being young and away from home is actually something I would recommend to every young adult…you have to stand on your own two feet and learn how to take care of yourself and can’t go running home to mom and dad every time you stub your toe. Kirk and I have said many, many times that it’s the best thing we could have done when we first married…we had to depend on one another. That was the main reason we encouraged her to go away to school.

As long as she’s happy, that’s the only real thing that mattters. She has enjoyed most of her school experience. The first half year was tough. Since May she’s worked two and three jobs at a time, the girl is a worker! She is one strong gal and we are so proud of her! She was always strong minded, going back to when she was a little girl…she was never afraid of meeting new people and trying new things. It’s reassuring that she has really fit in with her boyfriend’s family, she has people to go to if she needs…there is a support system for her, something that I wish we would have had when we lived out there. Sometimes you do need a couple people to lean on on a bad day.

But, now…back to NebraskaLand for the kiddos. They are ready to get back to their children…the dogs had to stay home this time because they cound themselves with ringworm and had to stay with their other grandparents.